August 2018 Income Report – How I Made $4,200 Traveling Full-Time

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. PLEASE READ MY DISCLOSURE FOR MORE INFO.

Last month, July 2018, was my first monthly income report and I was so nervous to publish it, but you all were amazing and so encouraging and seemed to garner some value out of it, so I'm now posting my August 2018 income report that shows some incredible growth.

Last month I decided to start teaching what you all are asking me to video. My background is in Accounting and Finance and what better way to use it then to teach on financing a full-time travel lifestyle. I figured the best way to show you all how to have this kind of life is to be the story. I'm the experiment, and you can learn from my mistakes and my successes.

After traveling for a year, full-time, I wanted more freedom, and I was working 60-80 hours a week. I was considerably stressed even though I love this company that I worked for – but the pace was starting to get to me, and I just felt like I needed a change. I was documenting my travels on the blog and YouTube and was able to tap into my creative side again – something I hadn't used in a while – and it felt great and nourishing to my soul.

I took the BIG LEAP and quit so I can focus my attention on my endeavors in business – like building my online business and coaching/consulting practice. Even though I was working remotely this whole time – I still felt that I needed a change.

Now I'm even more location independent because I don't always have to stress about making sure there is an Internet connection – even though I depend on it for my own business – at least for a couple of days. I can relax more and take in the landscape in places that are more remote and not feel like I need to rush through it to make sure I'm available for my job.

It's exciting, thrilling, and a little nerve-wracking, but I feel thrilled with my decision and am pushing forward!

Why Am I Sharing My August 2018 Income Report?

Sharing what I earn each month and from what sources will not only allow me to document my income but also to see the growth or where I need to make adjustments. It's challenging to me to see how far I can push myself each month to be creative and reach my goals.

I have a vision in my head of what I want to create, but that also means listening to you, the Story Chasing viewers, to get your feedback and understand more of what you desire in order fulfill your dream experience.

I want to be the example, the experiment, to you all so you can see that you can also accomplish your desires. Who knows how long it will take me to reach my overall goal of replacing my former income, but as long as I don't quit, I don't see how I can't win at this little experiment.

Each month I'll post in the income report:

Monthly earnings for the month

Percentage of increase/decrease month-over-month

Sources of income (when I'm able to be transparent)

Monthly and annual goals

Growth opportunities

Successes

I hope by posting my income report that it provides you with some inspiration as to what's possible for you and your journey. My biggest hope is that I can share with you all a different lifestyle that's not necessarily the “social norm,” but that is entirely enriching and makes me feel more alive than I've ever felt. This is why I named my blog and YouTube channel Story Chasing.

It makes me pretty happy to create new stories and moments in my life and fill my brain with these special memories of my travels and the people who I've met along the way.

August 2018 Income Report – Working Remotely While Traveling Full Time

July was my first month after quitting my job so the August 2018 income report will be my second income report since starting to work full-time in my own business while also traveling full-time.

I have the StoryChasing.com blog and also the YouTube channel – which by the way, if you like what you see on my YouTube channel, please hit that subscribe button and click on the notification bell so you’ll know when I upload a video each week.

My Goals and Business Insights for the August 2018 Income Report

After taking some rest time in July, the month after I quit my job, I decided I should probably get busy and start accomplishing more in August. I mean, I can't be a slacker when I just quit my job!

Well, I guess I could be a slacker, but then I wouldn't fulfill my goals, my dreams, my desires – so – time to get moving lady!

August 2018 Income Report Video Goal

In July I was producing one video a week and a blog post which can be extremely time-consuming in the learning phase. It still takes me about 16 hours sometimes to finish a video and blog post from beginning to end. However, I had this goal for August that I would start creating two videos a week where Sunday will be all RV and travel related while Workshop Wednesdays will be about answering those questions on how to fund a full-time travel lifestyle or just generally how to make money online.

I was nervous to take this leap, because of the time factor of producing one video and blog post, but I was up for the challenge. Except I didn't do so well at it.

I think I had two weeks where I produced two videos, but dang it's exhausting, and I don't want to do it. I felt too much pressure by it and felt like I was going right back into working that 60-80 hour work week that I just got rid of in June. My whole goal for quitting is enjoying life more, and I wasn't enjoying it with producing that many videos along with all the other aspects of the business.

So, I've relinquished this goal and gave it a send-off into the ethers. I feel much better now. I still want to produce more content for you all, but it will be sporadic rather than planned, except for the once a week video that comes out every Wednesday or Thursday. I'm still playing with these two days to see which is better to publish content for you all.

YouTube Subscriber Goal

My goal for August was to have over 5,000 subscribers on YouTube.

For the 5,000 subscriber goal, I didn't succeed at this goal as a final number; however, you all came through, and I gained 566 viewers for an ending total of 4,331 subscribers on YouTube.

So not a loss.

I'm so happy with that number. Again, I'm going to keep on pushing through, producing content that you all can connect with, I hope, and numbers will continue to grow.

Free Mini-Course Goal

My goal for August was to put together a free mini-course for the blog. At the time, I wasn't sure what the free mini-course topic would be, but now I've nailed it down to one of the biggest questions I get surrounding RV expenses, budgeting, and how to live cheaply without blowing your budget.

This was a labor of love and a massive project I got to check off my task list. Not only did I accomplish this goal, you all signed up quickly, over 100 of you, and devoured the information. Look at these comments from the students:

I'm full of joy over your participation and how much you all like the course!

Story Chasing Insider Crew on Patreon Goal

Lastly, my goal was to hard launch the Story Chasing Crew site with Patreon as a way for loyal readers and subscribers to gain more access to all that's happening at Story Chasing like:

Monthly live streams

Patron only videos and clips from outtakes to deleted scenes and raw footage of what it's like to live in 100 square feet.

From the beginning, I documented my travels across the United States and Canada, through photos and video, so I could show that I've completed all 300 highways and byways. I'm the sole traveler, writer and videographer, marketer, editor, administrator, accountant, driver and whatever other hat is thrown my way in this adventure.

I travel with my fur baby, Lily, who is a 10 lb Whippet, Chi, Rat Terrier mix and a fantastic traveler with her own car seat so she can see outside and be safe in her harness that clips into the seat.

Over the course of my travels, I get asked quite a bit if I'm fearful to travel solo. I even made a video about it and how I overcome fear. It's been one of my more popular videos because I believe it addresses a fear that we all have – whether you're a man or a woman – about being by yourself and living in this world without subjecting ourselves to the constant fear of others and media. I've discovered that the world out there is kinder and more beautiful than I anticipated and that I'm also much stronger than I ever imagined. I've conquered plenty of fears this year, but I believe those fears are just opportunities to overcome and the greatest success and reward are on the other side of that fear.

I have worked in some capacity in Accounting since I was 17 years old and earned a Bachelor's Degree in Accountancy and am a Certified Financial Crimes Investigator. Most of my career I was working in property management, construction, and real estate with the last company being a Private Equity Firm specializing in acquisitions and development of multi-family housing where I was the Director of Asset Management Accounting. Though I loved my job, the company, and the people I worked with, I knew it was time for a change and to see what I could do with my own company.

I've been blogging on and off for over eight years and have created many websites and blogs and learned quite a bit about making money online. I just needed to figure out what I wanted to do to make money online.

As my viewers started asking me questions, a natural business started to form where I could teach others the knowledge I have on various subjects. I'm so thrilled to be working in this capacity and to help others. I've been coaching women for several years as well, and it's an immensely fulfilling joy to help these woman overcome experiences in their life.

I'm also business consulting for acquisitions/dispositions of real estate and multi-family housing.

Lastly, some of my income – that you'll see below in the August 2018 income report – also comes from an e-book I wrote about five years ago that helps people overcome rosacea naturally. It's not generating much income right now since I haven't been focusing on the marketing very much in the last couple of years. When I first wrote the book, it was generating about $200-$400 per month.

Advertising:

My Products:

Passive Income Total of $389.79

Active Income August 2018 Income Report

Consulting/Coaching – $3,810 which most likely will go down in the future since some of this is coming from contracting for my previous employer.

Total August 2018 Income Report $4,199.79

My bottom line goal is to increase my passive income, month-over-month by approximately 16.25% and I definitely hit that goal this month at 17.78%.

All of the income above is before expenses and taxes and represents my gross revenues.

Top Goals for September 2018

I'll also make sure to follow-up in the September income report with how I met my goals below:

Continue to reach viewers looking for an alternative lifestyle in minimalist living, traveling full-time, learning how to earn income on the road, and growing YouTube subscribers to 5,000+.

Learn how to batch produce my videos and blog posts to decrease time in the workflow, but still, maintain the quality of content and videos.

Fill in editorial calendar through the end of the year and review new series on nomadic life.

Begin the process of outlining a new product for sale to diversify my income.

Enjoy the journey, slow down more, and read more. Even with quitting my job I'm still going too fast sometimes, and after over a year of traveling, I'm still learning how to slow down more. I even work on my own business at a frantic pace. I know it's because I have so much I want to do, but I want to learn the art of slowing down more and enjoying the moment in its entirety. Why do we always need to be “accomplishing” something to feel good? What about just sitting down and reading a book? I used to be an avid reader at several books a week. Now I'm lucky to finish one in a month. Yes, even with traveling and quitting my job. I want to start reading each day again. Take my time to get up in the morning, get my coffee and some breakfast, and sit and read for even 30 minutes each morning.

Please leave me a comment below on how you liked this August 2018 income report. Was something missing or something you'd like to see?

2 Comments

Will you be setting up a Patreon site? If so, would that be passive income?

Besides the time of editing your videos, how much time do you spend each day working? Do you make a schedule for yourself so you don't end up working every day? I have a home-based business and I can work every day as there is always something I can do. Since I enjoy it, I don't mind. Plus, if I need a full day off, I'll take it. As long as orders are caught up, it's no big deal.

Have you planned out how much income you'll need so you can out-source your video-editing or, is that something that you want to keep for yourself?

I like the branding name of the Story Chasing Insider Crew rather than Patreon. It's at the bottom of the income report.

I'd like to say I have a schedule, but I don't. I've been flying by the seat of my pants lately and playing too much….lol. I'm getting better at it though and plan this month to get myself more organized. I mean I'm loosely organized and know what I'm doing most days, but I get distracted easily with traveling. Like the other I found a great spot to work all day by a lighthouse, but there were tidepools and sea lions and whales…WHALES…so what did I do? I watched them for 2 hours. 🙂

I'm enjoying myself though. I just means I work more at night and maybe that's the schedule that I need.

I'm not sure I'll outsource video editing right now. It's like writing the blog – it's my voice so I'm not sure yet. I would love to at some point if I can find somebody who can mimic my style maybe.

Sounds like you enjoy your home business and best of luck to you with it!

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DISCLAIMER

Please note that Story Chasing has financial relationships with certain merchants mentioned. While all attempts are made to present correct information, it may not be appropriate for your specific circumstances and information may become outdated.